Tag Archives: grilled

If you ever wanted to know what my top ten favorite spices or herbs were, turmeric would definitely be on that list. I love cooking with turmeric. Turmeric’s vibrant yellow color and earthy, pungent and ginger like flavor marries so nicely with dishes that contain chicken, beef, eggs, tofu, vegetables and rice. For those who are unfamiliar with this spice, turmeric can be purchased in either dried or in fresh rhizome form.

Ground Turmeric

Notice the bright yellow color of ground turmeric? Next time, be sure to add a few teaspoons to your favorite stir fry!

Fresh Turmeric Rhizomes

When selecting fresh turmeric, be sure to look for unbruised, firm, and smooth skinned rhizomes. Fresh turmeric packs more flavor that dried. However, dried turmeric is much more common and easier to find. There’s no shame in using dried turmeric. I buy mine in bulk all the time.

My Grilled Thai Turmeric Chicken is an easy to make yet, an exotic tasting dish. It’s made with succulent boneless skinless chicken thighs marinated overnight in a fragrant turmeric spice blend with sweet brown sugar, coriander, garlic, white pepper, fish and soy sauces. I like to serve it alongside a scoop or two of fluffy white rice and some thinly sliced cucumbers. It’s simply delicious! Enjoy! Tessa

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

5 tsp garlic paste

2 Tbs brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbs fish sauce

1 1/2 Tbs light soy sauce

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground white pepper

garnish with fresh cilantro sprigs

Add all of the ingredients to a covered container and refrigerate the chicken mixture at least four hours or overnight. Toss the chicken on a medium hot barbecue grill or grill pan and discard the marinade. Be watchful of the chicken, turning occasionally, being careful not to burn. Cook until the juices run clear or the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Makes 8 servings.

If you are looking for a simple to make and yet an exotic tasting way to prepare chicken, then you are in for a real treat. Indonesian grilled chicken is also called Ayam panggang or ayam bakar. There are so many versions of it, ranging from sticky and sweet, to hot and spicy. My version of Indonesian Grilled Chicken tends to be on the sweet side, for my chicken is marinated in sweet Indonesian soy sauce, ginger, garlic, coriander, turmeric and white pepper. It’s similar to my chicken satay recipe but without all the fuss of chopping and threading the meat onto bamboo skewers. It’s super easy to make and tastes fantastic! Serve with a scoop or two of steamed white rice, sliced cucumber and for those who love fiery food, add a teaspoon or two of sambal oelek in the marinade or serve it on the side. Enjoy! Tessa

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/8 cup Kecap Manis (Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce)

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 – 2 tsps. ground turmeric

1 – 2 tsps. ground ginger

1 tsp. or one clove minced garlic

1/8 tsp. white pepper (or to taste)

1 Tbsp. water (optional, to thin marinade)

2 tsp. sambal oelek (optional)

Add all of the ingredients to a covered container and refrigerate the chicken mixture at least four hours or overnight. Toss the chicken on a medium hot barbecue grill and discard the marinade. Be watchful of the chicken, turning occasionally, being careful not to burn. Cook until the juices run clear or the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Makes 4 servings.

Grilling chicken has got to be one of my all time favorite ways to prepare dinner for my friends and family. I generally prefer to use boneless skinless chicken thighs because they’re moister and more flavorful than a boneless skinless chicken breast. My Grilled Blood Orange Chicken is easy to make and tastes great sliced on top of a fresh green salad, chopped up in warm soft tortillas garnished with crunchy cabbage, spicy salsa and lime or simply served with a side of rice and steamed vegetables. Double or triple the recipe for some fantastic chicken leftovers! Enjoy! Tessa

Toss all ingredients in a covered container and let marinade in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight. Toss any remaining marinade. Place on medium hot barbecue grill or grill pan. Turn chicken when halfway cooked. Cook until juices run clear or the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Pull from grill, let chicken rest for about 5 minutes covered. Place on serving plate and garnish with sprigs of cilantro. Makes 4 servings..

This last spring while shopping for plants for my garden I stumbled upon a Cuban Oregano plant. I’ve never seen or heard of Cuban Oregano before and it was so much different looking than the Italian or Greek Oregano that I have growing in large pots on my back patio. The leaves were thicker, almost succulent like and they were lighter in color than the variety I use for Italian and Mediterranean dishes. What I also noticed is that it had a wonderful herbaceous smell and flavor that would be perfect with chicken, pork or even lamb.

Do you see how thick the leaves are? They are fleshy and soft to the touch, almost velvety in nature. I picked a few sprigs and thought of making a marinade for some chicken that I was going to prepare for dinner that evening. I tasted one of the leaves first to get an idea of how much to use. It was fairly aromatic and had a lovely flavor. With that in mind, I was thinking of making a marinade that had a Mexican or Latin American profile. That meant lime juice, cilantro and garlic would be great in addition to cumin, pepper and onion. I pulled together my ingredients and marinated the chicken for about 4 hours before tossing on the hot grill. Luckily, I wrote down my recipe for it turned out fabulous! Both Bruce and I loved it! As a result, this marinade is a definite keeper. Chop up any leftover chicken and fill warm corn or flour tortillas for delicious soft tacos for a quick and easy dinner the next day. Enjoy! Tessa

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup onion

1/3 cup lime juice

1/3 cup cilantro

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 1/2 Tbs Cuban oregano

4 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste)

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

garnish with lime wedges and sprigs of Cuban oregano

Toss all ingredients except for the chicken in a blender. Blend for a few seconds until all the ingredients are mixed well. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 4 – 6 hours before cooking. Place chicken on the barbecue or grill pan on medium high heat. Discard marinade. Cook chicken, turning occasionally, until the juices run clear or the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Remove from heat and let chicken rest for about 5 minutes prior to serving. Serve with lime wedges and garnish with the Cuban oregano. Makes about 8 servings.

There are few dishes that I can think of that tastes better than fresh Oregon caught Grilled Herb Stuffed Wild Trout. Somehow, trout tastes better when you catch it yourself just like I did over the weekend. Simply delicious!

Early morning in the Sky Lakes Wilderness. The air was cold, crisp and clean. We were the only people on the lake that day. Do you see the first snow of the season on the mountain? There was one snow patch on the gravel road on the way up to the lake. Once we saw the snow, we all knew that it was the last day of trout fishing for the year. Within weeks or even days, access to this beautiful high mountain lake will be non existent due to snow covered roads.

Once we got out on the lake, the water looked like glass. It was so cool to see the reflections of the clouds on the surface of the water.

A view of Mount McLoughlin from the north. Mount McLoughlin is located in Southern Oregon in the Cascade Mountain Range. It is a volcanic mountain peak nearly 9,500 feet in elevation. I’ve never been to the top but, from what I have heard from others is that the view on a clear day is spectacular. If there was anyone on the top of the mountain that day, they would not have been disappointed.

It was early afternoon and the wind started to pick up. Between the three of us, we had not caught a thing. No bites, no bumps, no nothing. I was starting to get a bit discouraged because I am used to catching fish. What was so interesting, is that we observed numerous fish on the fish finder but the problem was that we had difficulty getting them to bite. We trolled flashers, we bait fished, we tossed out a variety of lures, and we worked the surface of the lake. We hit all depths and we threw everything that we had in our tackle boxes at them. The fish simply were not interested. I’m thinking it is because it was very late in the season and the water was really cold. When the water is cold, the fish tend to slow down, they are not as hungry as they are in the summer months and in the winter, they descend into depths of the lake. In the summer, different story. You can catch the fish from the bank and at times have better luck than those who fish from a boat.

Finally… It happened. It was a late bite. By late afternoon, I was the first one to land a fish. Woo-hoo! By the end of the day the score was: John – 2, Tessa – 1 and Matt – 0. I felt bad for Matt, for he had a brand new fishing pole that he got for his birthday the day before. Today was a perfect example of why fishing is called “fishing” and fishing is not called “catching”.

My catch of the day! I am so glad that I did not get “skunked” and have to return home empty handed. I probably would not have heard the end of it…

My Grilled Herb Stuffed Wild Trout is prepared with fresh caught trout, fresh picked herbs from my garden, and is brightly flavored with orange and lemon zest. It’s easy to make, fresh tasting, quick to prepare, and most of all delicious! Most importantly, Bruce loved it too! Enjoy! Tessa

Ingredients:

1 pound trout (cleaned, scaled, head and fins removed)

1/4 cup chopped herbs (I used mostly parsley, then, chives and thyme)

1 Tbs each lemon and orange zest

1 Tbs olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

lemon wedges

fresh chopped herbs for garnish

Prepare trout for grilling. Wash and pat dry. Set aside. Mix together herbs, lemon zest, orange zest and olive oil. Fill cavity of fish with the herb mixture and on the exterior of the fish. Add salt and pepper. Place fish on plastic wrap, tightly cover and refrigerate for an hour. Remove fish from plastic wrap and place directly on a medium high grill or barbecue. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Don’t overcook! Gently remove from grill, place on serving platter. Garnish with herbs and serve with lemon wedges. Serves 2.

Bruce and I lead very busy lives so cooking dinner on weekday evenings can be a crazy mad scramble. I’ve learned over the years to prep what I can in the morning before work and by the time I get home in the evening all I have to do is toss together a salad, make a quick side dish and grill up dinner. Done. If there is any one dish that tastes great and easy to make, my Lemon Rosemary Chicken is one that fits the bill.

Fresh picked Rosemary from my garden.

To make the Lemon Rosemary Chicken, all you need is boneless skinless chicken thighs, fresh rosemary, fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and some spices. Toss all the ingredients in a covered container in the morning before work, cover and refrigerate. Come home, pull the chicken out of the fridge, toss on a grill or grill pan, and cook until the juices run clear. See? I told you that it was easy… Enjoy! Tessa

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs

1/8 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 Tbs rosemary (chopped)

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Toss all ingredients in a covered container and let marinade in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Toss any remaining marinade. Place on medium hot barbecue grill or grill pan. Turn chicken when halfway cooked. Cook until juices run clear or the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Pull from grill, let chicken rest for about 5 minutes covered, garnish with sprigs of rosemary and plate up. Serves 4 – 6 people.